


Debride

by NRGburst



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen, Missing Scene, Zuko-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:54:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27176851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NRGburst/pseuds/NRGburst
Summary: Getting to know the Gaang always involves explaining that one thing everybody notices first.Well, almost everybody.
Relationships: The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 378
Collections: Trick or Treat Exchange 2020





	Debride

**Author's Note:**

  * For [phoxinus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoxinus/gifts).



Zuko can feel it coming. Sokka's eyes linger on his face before his eyebrows knit, and he tilts his head the way he usually does before making some leading observation.

But then he hesitates-- which means he's thinking twice about prying.

Not that it usually stops him, and there's not much else to do _but_ talk to pass the time as they fly towards Boiling Rock. And he has to admit it's actually kind of nice to talk with somebody like a friend, who actually understands a lot of what the past couple of years have been like. Besides, he understands more of what Sokka says than he ever did his uncle, although he's still not sure if the girlfriend turning into the moon thing was actually some kind of metaphor.

A couple seconds of awkward silence precede Sokka adopting an air of casual curiosity. “...So the burn on your face- was that from a firebending accident?” he asks.

Zuko shakes his head, keeping his bending strictly under control, the pace and heat steady despite the emotions it roils. “...No. It was from an Agni Kai.”

“An Agnee what?”

“An Agni Kai. A ritual duel.”

Sokka's brows raise and he purses his lips thoughtfully. “You Fire Nation folks really do things formally. Back home if I had a problem with some guy, I'd just try to sock him. You know. Sokka style.”

Zuko lowers his eyes, still determinedly keeping his firing of the air in the balloon steady, though the flames he's putting out now are bigger than they were. He knows he could probably let the subject drop, but he can practically hear his uncle sagely intoning about how dead stuff has to be scraped off to let what's underneath heal. So he elaborates.

“...It wasn't 'some guy'. It was against my father.”

Sokka's been sprawled leaning against the prow, but that startles him into sitting up. “Firelord Ozai? _Your own dad?!_ That- _that's horrible!_ ” he exclaims.

Zuko shrugs a shoulder. It's taken him a long time to accept that it wasn't really his fault- that even if he had spoken out of turn, the choice to maim and banish him had been wholly his father's. “...Well, you've met my sister. Maybe getting off on abject humiliation just runs in the family.”

He's startled when Sokka comes up and grips his shoulder. “Zuko, I'm really sorry he did that to you. That's totally messed up.”

Zuko's lips quirk wryly. “...Yeah, well. He told me only bringing back the Avatar would restore my honor. So I sort of went on this desperate hunt around the world. Which you probably remember.”

Sokka purses his lips. “...Everything making a lot more sense now,” he says blithely, nodding. But he looks really sad, almost like he's about to cry.

Zuko freezes with alarm. “Are- are you going to hug me?”

To his profound relief, Sokka just gives his shoulder an awkward pat before backing away. “Pffft! Of course not!” he blusters, waving his hands in furious denial.

Zuko exhales and attempts a smile.

Water Tribers. So emotional.

***

Aang asks while they're glued to the bottom of the grate in the Sun Warrior Temple.

"Why do you want to know?" Zuko sighs. He's already revealed some uncomfortable things about his family today.

Aang twitches with what is probably a shrug, except they’re stuck so tight they can barely move. "It just seemed strange to me. None of the firebenders I've encountered have ever had such bad burns, even though it's the most dangerous source of bending. I can tell you about my tattoos in exchange, if you want."

"...No thanks."

"Okay then," Aang replies lightly.

But awkward silence descends, and Zuko sighs again. Whatever. It's not like there's a better way to pass the time. "...My father burned me. And he forbade the use of the usual salves after. Said I needed to bear the mark of my dishonor publicly."

Aang's quiet for a long while. 

"...I'm so sorry he did that to you, Zuko. That sounds really painful."

"...It was. And it may have taken awhile, but I no longer see it as a mark of _my_ dishonor. It's really one of his."

Zuko stares up at the dwindling sunlight. Might as well.

"Wasn't it painful for a kid to get such big tattoos?"

He can't actually see him, but somehow he's sure Aang's smiling.

***

Katara approaches him on Ember Island, where they've camped out at the old vacation house. "...So I've been thinking. I don't have that special spirit water anymore. But I can still try to see if I can heal your scar a little-- if you want."

Toph cocks her head and turns towards them. “Zuko has a scar?”

That almost makes him smile. He's so used to horrified looks or pity. 

"Yeah. But it's really only the memory that pains me now. And... I've come to think of it as a symbol of who I'm fighting for: the innocent people who don't deserve the flames. So... I think I'd rather keep it."

"Sounds pretty badass," Toph says.

Katara gives him a smile. And he has to admit, he likes the respect reflected in her eyes and can’t bring himself to fully deny it.

"...Maybe it is."

**Author's Note:**

> ETA: Made a promo edit on tumblr [here](https://nrgburst.tumblr.com/post/634177577488089088/debride-by-nrgburst-g-877-words-zuko-the)!


End file.
